Police arrested a suspect for armed robbery, pointing of a firearm and kidnapping on May 23.
Captain Manyadza Ralidzhivha said a member of the community went to Tembisa Client Service Centre to inform a police member that she had received a call from her brother who alleged that he was kidnapped.
“She told the member that her brother told her to deposit money into an account number he had given her.
When she asked her brother where he was, he told her that they were in Pretoria.
“The police officer immediately recalled that the previous day, on May 22, she had attended to a similar case with the same modus operandi where people were kidnapped and forced to phone relatives to deposit money,” said Ralidzhivha.
He said the police officer immediately alerted SAPS crime prevention members to look for the victim and suspects behind Tembisa Hospital.
“When the members arrived behind the hospital they saw two suspects who were trying to run away from the victim who was tied up. They chased them and managed to arrest one of them,” Ralidzhivha explained.
When searching the suspect, Ralidzhivha said police found the suspect to be in possession of a cellphone.
“The cellphone was later identified by the victim to be his.”
He further told police the kidnappers were using his phone to communicate with relatives to deposit money.
The man alleged that he was kidnapped at Spanner Road in Olifantsfontein on his way to work. He was forced to phone his sister to deposit money into an account number that they gave him,” said Ralidzhivha.
He said the 22-year-old suspect was also found in possession of the bank card for which they gave relatives account numbers to deposit money into.
He appeared before the Tembisa Magistrate’s Court to answer to charges of armed robbery, pointing of a firearm and kidnapping.
“The suspect can be linked to other cases.
“The police are still looking for the other suspect who managed to evade arrest,” concluded Ralidzhivha.
